1500 Tuna Fingerlings Grown Out To 5 Cm

About 1500 juvenile southern bluefin tuna fingerlings are being grown out at the Clean Seas Tuna facility at Arno Bay.

The tuna count comes after the company started its fingerling production earlier to try and beat the colder autumn and winter weather, which affected last year’s batch of southern bluefin tuna fingerlings.

The company’s chief executive officer Dr Craig Foster said the tuna were between 30 to 50 millimeters in size, with a further two tanks of tuna larvae still being reared.

“We will wean a significant number of juveniles and hold them on shore for release into sea pens at a later stage in the year, in a progression of our life cycle research,” he said.

“We are encouraged by this increase in juveniles from this season’s spawning, which is now complete, and that we have made significant improvements in understanding how to rear tuna juveniles.”

A $7.068 million pre-tax loss was recorded by the company for the half year ending in December 2011, a 46 percent improvement on results recorded in the same period in December 2010.

The company has appointed a new chairman elect after John Ellice-Flint stepped down from the position and will finish at the position at the end of May.